Winch Advisory Services LLC Grows Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,412 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $105.45 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.56. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $94.23 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The firm has a market cap of $121.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.